Teen: ‘I’m finally safe. I’m finally free’; Ammon man sentenced to life in Utah, Idaho

IDAHO FALLS — An Ammon man was sentenced in Utah and in Idaho after the victim reported he had sexually assaulted her multiple times, after giving her sleeping medication.

Douglas Melvin Hall, 42, was charged in Idaho on Dec. 10 with two felony lewd conduct with a child and a charge of felony child sexual abuse.

On May 15, he signed a plea agreement, which means that in exchange for a guilty plea, the state dismissed one of the lewd conduct and the sexual abuse charges. The state recommends a sentence of five years fixed and for it to run concurrently with Utah’s sentence.

On Sept. 23, District Judge Dane Watkins Jr. sentenced Hall to eight years in prison and an indeterminate period of life.

According to Hall’s Utah court documents, he was charged in Washington County on Sept. 18, 2023, with felony first-degree object rape and two felony second-degree forcible sexual abuse.

He accepted a plea agreement that dismissed the forcible sexual abuse charges, and Hall agreed to plead guilty to the object rape charge. He also agreed to register as a sex offender.

Hall was sentenced by Utah’s 5th District Court Judge Ryan Christiansen on July 31 to a term of five years to life, with an indeterminate sentence in the Utah State Prison.

According to Bonneville County Prosecutor Randy Neal, part of the conditions of his sentence is that he must satisfy the parole boards of Idaho and Utah before he is released. After eight years, Hall has the opportunity to apply for release, but if it’s denied, he’ll stay in prison.

Background

According to Hall’s Utah court documents, a detective with the St. George Police Department in Washington County was assigned to investigate a report of a sexual assault on a 15-year-old female victim on Sept. 12, 2024.

The victim reported that in September 2023, she visited St. George with her family and Hall.

A month later, the detective spoke with a family member of the girl. He said the girl had confided in him that Hall had inappropriately touched her, and later learned Hall had been sexually abusing her multiple times for the past three years.

The family member told the detective that the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office was also investigating Hall for assaults on the victim in Idaho.

On Oct. 10, a forensic interview of the girl revealed that at an event in St. George, Utah, Hall began to touch her inappropriately, and when she confronted him, Hall became emotional and said he was a horrible person, according to court documents.

The girl stated that there were other instances reported to law enforcement, although some were in Idaho, according to court documents.

In a Dec. 4 interview, Hall claimed he was under the influence of sleeping medication when the incident occurred.

According to Hall’s court documents in Idaho, the victim had a forensic interview on July 10, 2024, in which she described that the previous two years, Hall had sexually assaulted her.

During these incidents, Hall would give her his sleeping medication, and these types of incidents occurred, according to court documents.

“I’m finally safe. I’m finally free”

Hall appeared for his sentencing in Idaho via Zoom, as he had been sentenced in Utah.

The girl’s mother was first to give an impact statement during sentencing.

She spoke about the abuse she and her family endured at the hands of Hall. During the two years, the mother said she did not know Hall had sexually abused the her daughter and abused her other children.

“We were still living in the aftermath,” she said. “The night we relocated to Utah… (The victim), who had not said much up to that point, suddenly began to sob. I held her in my arms as she cried, and through her tears, she said, ‘I’m finally safe. I’m finally free.'”

After leaving Hall and relocating, the mother discussed how rebuilding their lives has been difficult due to the trauma her children have experienced, struggling in school and in life.

She asked Watkins to sentence Hall for the maximum sentence possible to allow her children to grow up, not in fear, and to have the opportunity to get treatment to understand what Hall did to them fully.

The victim spoke next on how Hall manipulated her to break away from school, her friends and family, isolating her in his abuse.

“This wasn’t love, this was obsession, control and abuse, and it left me feeling trapped, suffocated and stripped of all freedom,” the girl said. “Doug would threaten suicide if he ever felt like I wasn’t giving him enough attention. This is an enormous and cruel burden to place on a 12-year-old child.”

She said Hall had taken her childhood, her trust, safety and freedom during his abuse, and that these things would stay with her and her siblings forever.

Understanding Hall’s plea agreement recommended a five-year sentence, the victim said that is just not enough time for her and her family to move forward, noting that anything smaller risks reopening the old wounds.

“We deserve a chance to grow up in peace, to move forward, to create new lives for ourselves and finally, thrive without the constant fear of Doug returning to hurt us again,” the victim said.

Attorney’s discuss

Neal, representing the state, lauded the courage and poise of the victim during her impact statement, but echoed her words when she described the abuse Hall caused her and her family.

“The most disturbing part of the description of how this impacted her was that cycle that each morning after the abuse, he would manipulate the situation through these attempts to get sympathy,” Neal said.

Remarking on the plea agreement, the recommended five years would follow after Hall’s sentence in Utah is over, but the discussion shifted to how long an indeterminate period of time should be placed on Hall.

Understanding that in Utah, Hall was given an indeterminate period of life, Neal said that would be appropriate here in Idaho as well.

“This was severe because of the length of the abuse. It was severe because of the frequency of the abuse,” Neal said. ” It’s not anybody’s fault, but the individual who engaged in this behavior.”

Hall’s attorney, Curtis Smith, spoke about how his client has been open and cooperative with law enforcement since he took on the case.

“My client came and did a full disclosure interview with law enforcement,” Smith said. “Did he need to do that? No, he had the absolute right to remain silent.”

As the case progressed, Smith said Hall waived his hearings and accepted responsibility for his actions.

“That’s unique… Doug knew he was going to prison. He says in this paragraph (in the PSI) he deserved to go to prison for what he did,” Smith said.

Hearing what the victims had to say during their impact statement, Smith took issue with their requests for a harsher sentence than what was handed down in Utah.

His concern would be the possibility that Utah will hand over Hall to Idaho and let the state pay for his treatment.

“I think Utah has a much better system of incarceration when it comes to giving things to people to work on than Idaho does,” Smith said.

Smith said that Hall is enrolled in Utah’s parole board program classes, psychosexual class and evaluations and therapy he has to do once a month. Hall is also paying for private therapy on top of that.

“If we threw a kink at that, go ahead and get tenure sticks. You know what Utah’s going to do? That programming stops, and Idaho will have jurisdiction,” Smith said.

“I am truly disgusted by my actions”

Hall was given a chance to make a statement, which he said he is grateful that his family and the victim’s family can get to hear his words.

Hall expressed his disgust with his actions and stated that he was never, nor will he seek to justify them.

“My disgust for my actions is compounded by my heart being completely broken knowing how my abhorrent and selfish actions have so painfully hurt (the victim),” Hall said.

He said he is willing to submit himself to whatever the court judgment is and is grateful to take responsibility and go through the process of repentance.

“I am so sorry that I hurt you and that I broke your trust, and then I’ve broken your heart.”

“You broke a family”

Looking at the nature of the crime, Watkins said, with each case, it’s difficult to find what is fair and reasonable while understanding what harm it has caused to the victims.

Understanding Hall’s position and relationship with the victim, he said his conduct was abhorrent and the statements made by the victim speak to the harm caused, which is immeasurable.

Speaking to the victim, he praised her courage to speak on the abuse she faces and the trauma she lives with. He hopes the guilty plea by Hall is a step for her and her family to heal.

Acknowledging that Hall takes ownership and disgust in his action, and knows what he did was criminal.

While he regrets that Hall was not in the courtroom and appeared via Zoom, Watkins walked down and stood in front of the camera before announcing his sentencing.

“I want to say this to you. You used so many things to your benefit, to your gratification,” Watkins said. “You used your mental health. You used the victim’s mental health. You used drugs, you used religion, you used your own threats of suicide… You use every method of control… You used your position in a family, and because of these acts, you broke a family.”